House Blend: Home for the Holidays

One holiday season a decade or so ago, my daughter and I became bracelet-making fools. We’d rushed through homework and chores so we could sit on the big couch, TV tables positioned in front, and make bracelet after bracelet.

We gave them to friends and family. We gave them to the next door neighbors, the teachers, the holiday party hosts, and our favorite supermarket cashiers. We left them for our faithful mail carrier, our librarian, and our fabulous go-to baristas.

We had so much fun that year in our own living room — minus trips to get more supplies — that it gave a whole new meaning to “home for the holidays.”

So this year why not have your own home-for-the-holidays craft? Avoid the noise-noise-noise of the crowds, the lines, the bills, and the gas prices, and enjoy the home you never get enough time to enjoy.

At a loss for what you might do? Not that crafty? Hogwash! Everyone is an artist. All you need is the right muse and the right media. I worked in beads and elastic fishing line, but there are a million ways to run smack into your inner artist. Here are just a few:

Homemade Truffles. You have no idea how easy these are to make! You can cover them with an assortment of crushed nuts and sprinkles. Then you can package them up in little boxes and tie a ribbon around them. Bonus: You get to taste them for, uh, quality-control purposes, of course.

Made-From-Scratch Cookie Kits. All you need is your favorite cookie recipe, the dry ingredients, a note card, and some ribbon. Layer all the dry ingredients in the Mason jar, screw on the lid and print the recipe on the note card. Tie a ribbon or be creative by attaching a small pine cone or jingle bell. You can also create your own logo and label if you’re feeling graphically inclined.

Secret Hollowed Books. Perfect for spending more time in your home library or favorite reading nook. Find cheap or free — preferably musty and old — classics at the local Goodwill or used bookstore. Glue the pages together, then use an X-ACTO or mat knife to hollow out the center of the book. It’s the perfect place for the recipient to store his treasures (and you’ll know how to find them, if needed).

Homemade Hand Warmers. Give your friends the gift of warmth with a handmade hand warmer. Use wool, cashmere or felt bags, and fill them with beans or ceramic pie weights. To use these toasty treasures, simply microwave them for a couple of minutes and slip them in your pockets.

Memory Drawings. If you can do a simple line drawing, consider drawing a very simple black-and-white picture of a memory you share with someone (e.g. my daughter and me making beaded bracelets while the snow falls outside). Now frame it, if you like, and give it away. The great thing about this (besides being inexpensive) is that you can give this gift multiple times to the same person. They will have a growing collection of “memory drawings” from you.

Personalized Affirmation Mirrors. Start by picking up inexpensive, smallish mirrors. Or look around your house for some. Select some one-word affirmations, such as “fabulous” and “gorgeous,” and search through different fonts — magazines are a good place to look — for one that fits the word you’re going to use for the receiver of the mirror. You can cut them out and slap them on the mirror with some glue, or, if you’re feeling a bit daring, print out the words to make stencils and cut them out on contact paper. Use some glass-etching glaze to etch the words onto the mirrors. Add some cheap rhinestones to glitz them up for the girls or add a masculine touch for the boys. Finish by attaching ribbon and twine so that they can be hung easily. What a great way to give someone a reason to smile at themselves everyday!

Make Your Own Cards. Great money-saver with that personal touch but also a great way to use old holiday cards, scraps of wrapping-paper ribbons and bows, as well as photos, magazines and other paper. You can use colored markers, crayons, or printed text. And you can buy boxes of 50 assorted blank cards for around $7 and get gluing.

The Family Cookbook. This is my favorite. Some years ago, my mother, who has since passed, put together a recipe book of all our family recipes. We all loved it, as evidenced by the food spills and other damage on each page of the typed-by-hand book. Now my siblings and I have family we’d like to share recipes with, as there’s not one in the bunch that doesn’t cook (and eat heartily). This would be a good project for a big family, even one as spread out geographically as mine. You’ll need a project coordinator (boss of the project) and an editor (detailed pain-in-the-butt) to get everyone to submit a few recipes and then print and bind the book for all to have. Hopefully some members of my family are working on this right now. As for me, I’m not sure what I’ll be making but I do know I’ll be enjoying my home when I do. That’s my idea of do-it-yourself holiday cheer.